Maryland’s Prince George’s County is working on new efforts to curb violence, particularly among young people.
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks told WTOP’s Mike Murillo on Tuesday that the county is offering grants to nonprofits that help keep people away from crime — up to $50,000.
Among the services the county is looking at through “Hope in Action” is youth mentoring, diversion, reentry and employment services, Alsobrooks said.
“We want to really encourage people to please apply to be able to provide those services to our youth,” she said. “We have a task force that is being formed as well to make sure that we’re also meeting the demand, and really counteracting the violence in our community.”
Alsobrooks also said there are mental health concerns when it comes to violence, as well as addiction.
“We know that many of our young people need mentors and others in their lives. And those are the resources that we are providing as a government. But we know that this issue cannot be resolved at the police station, it will not be resolved at the courthouse, it’s going to be resolved in our community,” the county executive said.
She implored the community to come together to “disrupt the cycle of violence that is growing again.”
According to Alsobrooks, for example, there have been 162 carjackings in Prince George’s County. She said juveniles are responsible for 96 of them.
“And so this tells us a lot about where we’re headed. And we must do something right now to disrupt it,” Alsobrooks said.
Applications for the grants are open until Jan. 14.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
